Hazy view

When they got to the stone estate, himejima allowed her to either rest or explore his massive training area around his home. and although she was tired her curiosity got the better of her, so while he went off to pray and get something ready -he wouldn’t tell- she went and explored his garden.

it was as breathtaking (and scary) as she thought it would be. trees towered over the estate making it hidden but they were still sparse enough to filter sunlight onto the grass and… is that a massive waterfall?? where did himejima even find a place like this? there was even what looked to be some sort of huge fire pit a little ways off. 

before she could look around anymore she heard flapping wings coming from her right and looked up to see himejima’s crow, reaching out her arm, he landed. 

“,, go back to gyomei’s estate,,” he cawed as Asa pet the crow “sure thing, i wonder what he was up to other than praying with i was gone.”

what was that himejima up to, that was the 50 mon question. the answer? cooking. he was so excited to have a guest that wasn’t technically a demon slayer he cooked to show his appreciation after his prayer time. Asa walked in only for himejima’s crow, whose name she found out was zekka, flew off and down a hall. she could only assume he wanted her to follow.

she walked towards the flapping (and the delicious curry smell) to find an open doorway and himejima standing in the middle of an extremely tidy kitchen. she wasn’t sure how one could keep a room this clean but he seemed to manage it. she tapped her foot twice on the ground to let him know she was there, a common practice some  kakushi on her right did for her, “oh, hello Asa-san” he said turning to the doorway, clacking of claws took his attention next, “ and to you too, zekka. i’m making some food for the two of us.” as he spoke he turned back to Asa.

“i do hope curry is okay, i’m running out of ingredients and this is all i have to offer for now.” Asa nodded even if he couldn’t see “that’s more than okay himejima-san, i appreciate any food.” he nodded with a small smile. “ it’ll be done shortly, then after dinner we can talk about your training. does that sound alright?” Asa agreed before going to sit at the counter himejima had in his kitchen.

———————

“is the curry good?”

“best i’ve had in years himejima-san”

“i’m happy to hear that Asa.”

———————

“so Asa, about your training.” ah shucks he got her while she was eating. “i will train you as i would for anyone who would learn breath of stone. however i do understand if you would want to learn a different technique, or even later make a derivative.” himejima said, staring down at her with his unwavering eyes. Asa nodded even if he couldn’t see it. “i understand himejime-san. i promise will do my best.” he smiled fondly at her promise. 

“i believe you, we’ll start tomorrow at sunrise, theres a room down the hall and to the left, i hope it is to your liking.” “i'm sure it will be himejima-san” what she didn’t mention as a kakushi because she was constantly on the move, she mostly slept on the ground or with a thin blanket below her, anything is a step up from that. “also Asa, i’m glad you're not using -sama anymore but how about my first name? apologies but it’s awkward with me calling you by your own first name.” 

Asa cringed but agreed mentally “of course…” wait a moment. she promises she has it, she didn’t forget a pillars name did she? “thank you Asa, i appreciate that, i’ll see you in the morning if thats alright? i need to do my patrol routes.” 

Asa saw him off right before the sunset and then just kept thinking. how could she forget his first name? uzui-sama didn’t call him earlier so she has that excuse but surely she’s a terrible subordinate, -no, student now- for forgetting his first name! she should know for more reasons than just that as well. 

wait.. all the estates have the owners name on a piece of wood outside the gate. surely his is there too, right? she peaked over the gate she was still near and sure enough, there it was the wood. she walked onto the side and squinted trying her best to read it. 

she never learned to read formally.. Asa almost started crying then and there. sure other kakushi read some notes and she figured the words out from there, but it was mostly the crows giving out messages so she never got the chance to properly learn how to read.

it’s okay, right? she just needs to sound it out surely.. the first character's spell…. hm no nevermind she’s hopeless. 

crunch

she jumped at the sudden noise behind her and whipped around. ‘a demon?’ no it doesn’t feel like it. “whats this? a girl out this late in the middle of the woods?” her voice sounded so familiar, and her haori oh shit. the flower hashiras little sister. “oh umh i apologize shinobu-sama, i didn’t mean to be out this late.” shinobu looked Asa up and down. “a kakushi uniform? where’s your mask?” “ah um, i'm not really a kakushi anymore, himejima-san will be training me to be a demon slayer.”

she made an “o” with her mouth, “well then that's even more of a reason to get you inside, come along” Asa picked at a seam of her pant leg “um wait, the reason i was um, out here.” she stuttered out. “will you tell me what this sign says?” she bowed slightly at the request. 

shinobu's eyes widened and then she walked over, ‘she looks like she’s floating’ Asa thought as shinobu looked at the sign. “oh it says himejima-san’s name” shinobu said matter of factly. “um- yes shinobu-sama, but will you read it aloud for me?” shinobu cocked her head then nodded. “if you wanted to know his name you could’ve just asked, his name is himejima gyomei.”

and then it all clicked into place. his name is gyomei, that was so easy, “thank you so much shinobu-sama, your help is appreciated.” shinobu smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “there’s no need to thank me, i just told you his name. lets get you inside alright?” Asa nodded and opened the gate “would you like anything? tea, a snack?” Asa asked before shinobu could run away. “oh no thank you i must get going.” Asa nodded and waved, “i hope to see you again shinobu-sama.” Asa could see the others hand go up in a wave as she ran back into the woods.

now she doesn’t have to feel bad when she talks to gyomei! that problem is solved, even if she still feels bad. now to find the room he talked about. he said it was down the hall from the kitchen and to the right? no left. definitely the left. she cannot forget anything else today that would be terrible.

when she walked in she found what looked to be floor mats and a few different blankets curled onto a side wall with curtains over some storage. the room wasn’t big enough to be overwhelming, but not small enough to make her feel cramped either. 

she decided she should try to get some sleep before himejima, no, gyomei got back from his patrol so she rolled the floor mats out and did just that, or tried her best.

———————

as promised they started her training at dawn, and also as promised it was hard. she was lucky she had good stamina from her years of being a kakushi or else she doesn’t think she would have lasted as long as she did. 

“the first exercise you’ll be doing is just to help me see where you’re already at naturally,” gyomei explained, rubbing his prayer beads together. “do as many laps as you can around the property, come back at… noon.” ‘… noon???’ 

he was definitely trying to kill her. he nodded to himself, “we’ll do other exercises after lunch, alright?” it was definitely not alright. “of course gyomei! whatever the training requires.” Asa replied, her teeth gritting “i’ll be off then,” she bowed before starting her personal hell. “i’ll be waiting for you Asa, be safe!” he called as she went.

———————

Asa couldn’t believe she agreed to him. a slave driver he is. if she was any younger could this be considered child labor? and aren’t other countries getting in trouble for that?? by noon she had done a total of 86 laps around his entire property. she wanted to impress gyomei after all and it's better than 85. as she walked back to the estate she stumbled over herself. but as soon as she saw gyomei waiting for her she did feel better.

“Asa! you’re back,” he said hearing her heavy steps, “how many laps did you get?” he questioned leading her back into the estate “86 laps total gyomei-san” she breathed out walking close beside him. “mm, that's a good start, better than most.” he nodded to no one in particular “well i was a kakushi gyomei-san. i had to have good stamina.” she said toeing her shoes off at the door. he nodded “yes of course, i also have a bit of a surprise.” 

Asa tilted her head in confusion “as in… a training surprise or a different kind?” “a training surprise, we will not be doing the exercises i mentioned earlier.” he said smiling to himself. “i don’t think stone breathing is meant for you.” wow okay. stab to her chest huh? she crossed her arms as they walked into the kitchen “i’m sure i could become strong enough to perform the breathe gyomei-san.” she huffed sitting down in one of the chairs. “i never said you couldn’t Asa, i do apologize if it seemed that way,”

he moved something off the stove as he turned back to her “it just seemed one of my fellow hashira came to train with me and i’d like if you watched.” he turned back to face her, his milky white eyes felt like they were staring into Asa’s soul. “i meant what i said when i told you i thought you had immense potential,” someone walked in to the right of her but she didn’t take her eyes off gyomei until he himself acknowledged the visitor.

“well good afternoon, uzui-san, good to see you again so soon.” gyomei greeted as Asa finally turned to see the tall man in the doorway. “it’s amazing to see you as well himejima-san, i do hope you’ll introduce me to your guest as well.” uzui spoke loudly, almost as if he was on a stage. “forever straight to the point uzui-san. this is hajime Asa, my student” she nodded “it’s a pleasure to properly meet you uzui-sama.”

uzui huffed and crossed his arms “are you sure she’s a student? that’s a kakushi uniform she has on. not very flamboyant.” gyomei made a face only for a second before rubbing his prayer beads together “i do assure you uzui-san she’s a wonderful student, we haven't had the chance to go get her proper training clothes.” he turned to her “we will be doing that soon” she nodded awkwardly “sure himejima-san” she replied, feeling bad after seeing gyomei’s hurt look. 

———————

“i really do promise we’ll get you more clothes”

“please don’t worry so much about that himejima-san”

“i do apologize, is that why you used my last name?”

“please stop crying, you’re about to go spar”

———————

and train they did. as Asa sat down on the engawa the two men walked out to a clearing in the forest and got ready to spar. she knew the two had some of the most unique weapons among the hashira but seeing them up close was mesmerizing.

gyomei -she had to stop calling him himejima- with his axe and flail and uzui with his cleavers. they looked like a normal size being held by the two, but she knew if anyone else was wielding the weapons it would be incredibly uncomfortable.

before she could blink they flew at each other, their weapons clashing as they came face to face. they were both pushing trying to get the other to jump back to defense and for a minute it looked like neither would until uzui’s foot slipped under the pressure and he was forced back.

giving no breathing room gyomei hurled the flail at the other, but Asa wasn’t thinking about the fight anymore. she was thinking about the two mens weapons. Asa knew she wasn’t physically strong enough to wield two swords, maybe if she pushed herself to her absolute limit every fight but logically, that wasn’t possible.

but the chain. if she had a sword with a chain attached to it? then she could do some damage, Asa had never been one to look forward to something but she was glad gyomei let her watch his sparring session. 

“Asa!” she blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. she threw herself to the side as gyomei’s now unchained flail came flying at her. “holy shit!@&:$”” she yelled, clutching her chest after the flail broke the wood where she previously was. “Asa are you alright?” gyomei asked, running over to her.

“peachy gyomei-san, just peachy” she said out of breath “what were you doing? i thought you would move before it got that close!” she looked up at him “sorry- i’m sorry i just got lost in thought.” she explained. he sighed “just don’t do something like that again.” she nodded “alright”

gyomei turned to uzui “let’s cut this short. i need to fix my flail and then go pray for a while” he said picking up said flail like it was nothing. “sure thing, my flamboyant friend.” uzui said, a bit calmer than he was earlier. gyomei left and Asa stood up dusting off some of the dust from her uniform. “listen up girly.” she whipped her head up at uzui, “if you’re reaction time isn’t good enough to dodge something coming at you from a good hundred meters you’re not good enough to be a demon slayer.” he said his arms crossing as if that would be enough to intimidate her.

maybe it would’ve been more intimidating if he was more than fifteen centimeters taller than her. “i already said i was lost in thought uzui-sama.” she said crossing her own arms ‘oh my kami why am i doing this. he’s a hashira i shouldn’t argue’ “i apologize for scaring gyomei-san but you have almost nothing to do with me.” he snarled “i have something to do with you if you die prematurely and then himejima is off his game and dies as well.” 

for a second Asa was almost taken aback. of course she knew being a demon slayer was a dangerous job. she knew people died everyday. hell she’s had to clean up dead bodies from battles. so why did it never occur to her that death was an option? uzui was still staring at her, but how could she possibly reply to that? she could let her subconscious do the talking? but her subconscious is the reason she’s even training to be a demon slayer. time was up, she had to respond.

“maybe you should work on your intimidation tactics uzui-san because i’m not going anywhere and i’m certainly not going to die.”

‘SHIT WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN EVERY TIME. I  NEED TO THINK MORE BEFORE I SPEAK.’

uzui stared her down for a few more seconds before giving her a smirk “alright, but i’ll only believe it when i see it” ‘eh?’ she blinked, he wasn’t mad? she was certainly mad at herself. before it could get anymore awkward he just disappeared. well not disappear, she could hear him land on the roof before running off. but that was enough to make her fall right back down on the engawa.

‘i cannot believe i just talked like that to a hashira.’ she wanted to cry. but was it fear or relief? 

———————

she couldn’t tell so she sat until the sun had started to set and gyomei came back outside.

“zekka said you were still out here” gyomei said quietly. Asa looked up to see much more prominent tear stains than usual, he must’ve just stopped. “i do apologize for staying out late” she replied and started to stand, “i also apologize for the scare earlier, i was too engrossed in my thoughts and it will not happen again.” she bowed even though she knew he wouldn’t see it. 

until she felt a weight on her head. “i’d like to apologize as well, my chain was damaged enough to break and it should’ve never gotten that bad.” his tears started coming again, but he still didn’t move his hand from her head. “it’s- it’s no problem gyomei, i wasn’t hurt.” she stuttered out “but what if you were?” he asked, bringing his hands back to his prayer beads. Asa bit her bottom lip “i won’t get hurt gyomei, i promise.” he shook his head “you can’t promise that,” she knows “but thank you for the sentiment.” 

he looked back inside. “i have to go patrol and i will have a mission in a few days, i will tell you your training regimen before that and i expect you will do your best.” Asa tried looking inside to whatever he was looking at but there was nothing, she instead replied “of course gyomei”

the night after that was relatively calm, she saw him off and then went back to sitting outside, she couldn’t sleep anyways, she wasn’t used to it.

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taisho secrets
- shinobu was originally at gyomei’s estate to do a biannual health check up in her sisters stead, but she got distracted and even forgot to ask if gyomei was home

- zekka wasn’t very fond of Asa when he first saw her but after seeing her he felt as though he had to lead her around due to her particial blindness.

- uzui really does not like Asa. the only redeeming qualities (in his eyes) is her willingness to talk back and whatever kind of relation she has with gyomei.
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